Keyspan (KSE), the natural gas company based in the Northeast,
has seen its share price appreciate 82% for the year 2000.
This was due in no small part to soaring natural gas prices
and falling temperatures within its servicing region. The
company is currently planning a "substantial" rate increase to
cover the surging price of gas, which could certainly help its
operating margins going forward. Turning to the chart, we can
see that KSE has just emerged from a cup and handle formation.
The recent pullback has alleviated an overbought condition as
indicated by the stochastic. If KSE holds at its current
level, it could go to the $47 level according to the depth of
its cup formation. I would watch the CBOE Natural Gas Index
(XNG.X) to confirm strength in the sector before jumping in at
these lofty levels.

Does Carnival look good at these levels? Could you comment
please?

The recreation stocks are a fickle bunch. They react strongly
to interest rate changes. As interest rates rise, consumers
cut back on spending, and the first items that many cut back
on are luxury items, which includes tropical vacations.
Looking at a weekly chart of CCL, we see that the stock
suffered a blow on June 20th when four brokerage houses
simultaneously downgraded the stock. Since then, CCL has
set sail for higher prices, although the waters have been
rough at times. It now appears that CCL could retest the
bottom of its prior consolidation range at $40, provided it
can hold at current support levels of $28.25. A lower
interest rate environment could certainly stimulate more
customers to don cheesy Hawaiian shirts and sip Pina Coladas
poolside, but the real driver of this stock could be lower oil
prices. With one of the industry's highest operating costs
dropping, Carnival might just be able to show higher profits
in the year 2001.